domingo, 21 de outubro de 2007

Don Giovanni, d'après Jacobs III

Desta feita, a crítica pouco abonatória vem do Thelegraph:

«René Jacobs sets out his stall in the booklet note to this provocative new recording. Whereas Mozart composed a quicksilver dramma giocoso, he argues, the Romantics turned Don Giovanni into a heroic tragedy. This is a fair point. But in claiming to present the opera "in its original colours", Jacobs ignores John Eliot Gardiner, Charles Mackerras and others, who have already recorded bristling period-style performances void of spurious fat or undue reverence.
That said, Jacobs's recording of the 1788 Vienna version (with the discarded Prague numbers included in an appendix) is always exhilarating, occasionally frustrating. The orchestral playing is brilliantly alive, with the woodwind relishing their ironic, disruptive or cajoling commentaries. More controversial are the fortepiano's twiddles and flourishes in the recitatives, witty to some (including me), irritating to others. Contentious, too, is Jacobs's fondness for sudden spurts in tempo. Though his conducting generates plenty of dramatic excitement, the effect can sometimes be a shade frenetic.
For Jacobs, Donna Elvira rather than Donna Anna is the opera's central female character. Accordingly, Anna is sung here by the lightish-voiced Olga Pasichnyk, who makes up in grace and agility what she lacks in grandeur. Alexandrina Pendatchanska's Elvira, conversely, is almost hysterically obsessive: a charismatic performance, though not without its squally moments.
Following Jacobs's anti-Romantic conception, Johannes Weisser's Don Giovanni is more Jack-the-lad than demonic anti-hero. He is casually seductive in his scenes with Sunhae Im's coquettish Zerlina, rapier-sharp in his exchanges with Leporello, where his tenorish timbre contrasts well with Lorenzo Regazzo's lubricious Leporello. With its eccentricities, this may not be a first-choice Don Giovanni. But I found its zest and mercurial spirit refreshing, often compelling»



Bem vistas as coisas, a lógica da crítica, até à data, no tocante a este Don Giovanni, tem sido “uma no cravo, outra na ferradura!”

Sem comentários: